UMG revenue rises in first quarter of 2015

Universal Music Group revenue rose 2.3% on a constant currency basis, from €984 million (AU$1.3bn) to €1.09 billion (AU$1.53bn) in the first quarter of 2015.

The major label’s French media and music parent company Vivendi SA announced its first-quarter net income overnight reporting 2015 as the third first quarter in a row to show growth.

Similar to financials reported by Warner Music Group yesterday, UMG has said growth in subscription and streaming revenues “more than offset the decline in both digital download sales and physical sales." Yesterday TMN reported that WMG became the first major record label to receive more revenue from music streaming than downloads.

UMG’s 2014 Q1 results did show significant growth in streaming but low download sales and the decline of CD sales contributed to a 2% dip in revenue.

In Q1 2015 Vivendi cited the soundtrack to Fifty Shades of Grey (ARIA #1), Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late (ARIA #2), Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (ARIA #1) and Madonna's Rebel Heart (ARIA #1) as the four albums which contributed to the revenue spike, as well as strong carryover sales from Taylor Swift and Sam Smith.

Revenue before interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITDA) were up by 39.3% to €82 million (AU$115 million). Vivendi has put this down to "The favorable performance reflected the benefit of both revenue growth and mix, as the continued transition to digital sales, improved licensing income and a lower proportion of sales from distributed repertoire all helped margins."